Introduction of a Glide Phase in Skating

Mechanics for Hockey Players

© Copyright 2007 Kirk H Olson

I recently read some information from the Institute for Hockey Research, http://www.hockeyinstitute.

org, about which I would like to comment. Some of the information presented on the site is quite valuable. The

data helps the hockey coaching community to further our understanding of game specific behaviors. Some of

the information suggests strategies for improving skating performance. This is the information I would like to

comment on specifically.

There is a shortage of quality skating information for purposes of instruction. Some good science has been

done, in both biomechanics and physics, to describe proper skating mechanics. The trouble is understanding just

what the information means. For instance, how does the following phrase translate into teaching method: “An

essential technical aspect of skating is the fact that the direction of the push off is perpendicular to the gliding

direction of the skate (Van Ingen Schenau, et al, 1985)”? Making use of technically worded descriptions like this

one has proven difficult for a great many skating practitioner. It is my endeavor, in this paper, to unravel some of

those difficult concepts.

I would like to begin by discussing the following information posted by the Institute for Hockey Research

at the following URL: http://www.hockeyinstitute.org/x_skate1.htm

Balance on one foot appears not to be an important performance skating factor for hockey players. A two foot glide

position is an important performance characteristic and is the basis from which all other skating characteristics are

derived.

I want to point out that the information as stated above is only an observation. It is assumed because professional

hockey players are doing it that the behavior should be taught and emulated. Not long ago professional hockey

players used straight wooden sticks, leather skates, and did not wear helmets too.

All skating characteristics evolve from a two foot glide position. The ability to move into other skating characteristics

from a two foot glide position is important for hockey players as the nature of the game is stride - glide - stride - glide

(Bracko, 1998).

The statement “all skating characteristics evolve from a two foot glide position” is not accurate. All skating

acceleration must start with loading or putting pressure into one skate; a single-leg skating position. The scientific

evidence in support of this statement is well documented. A single-legged glide, though not practiced by a majority

of elite level hockey players, represents the most efficient transition from gliding to acceleration. This is because

the athlete need not redistribute body mass to get the pressure required for acceleration. The athlete is already in

the proper position to put pressure or force into the ice. In other words the single-leg skating position delivers the

most pressure for the least amount of movement in the shortest amount of time and therefore is optimal.

Effective Stroke 3

Further information is provided at http://www.hockeyinstitute.org/

x_skate4.htm. Excerpts from this page include the following statements:

Velocity in speed skating is more dependent on stride length than stride

frequency. This is the exact opposite of hockey skating.

Stride length needs to be defined in this statement. Dr. Braco has defined

stride length as the distance measured laterally from the beginning to the

end of the stroke. This definition was given by Dr. Braco at a lecture he

gave at the International Skating Symposium in Detroit in 2003.

The physics of hockey skating and speedskating are no different.

The physics state that speed in skating is generated from an applied force

which is perpendicular to the skate blade. This fact is true for skating at all

speeds. When a skating athlete starts from a dead stop the skate blade is

not moving. The athlete turns the skate roughly ninety degrees and pushes

off. Because there is no glide the acceleration is completely dependant on

the stride length and the stride frequency. It is an impulse push; the more

quickly the push is delivered the faster the athlete accelerates. I will refer

to that stroke as the sprint stroke. As the athlete builds speed the skate

is gliding through some part of the stroke. The gliding skate presents an

opportunity to increase the amount of time putting pressure into the ice.

The athlete can now deliver maximum pressure for a longer period of

time. This is possible because pressure can and should be delivered while

the skate is gliding. This pressure results in greater acceleration. The

impulse push of the sprint stroke cannot deliver increasing acceleration

at increasing speeds. The fastest skaters in hockey make use of this

technique. These athletes have

learned to apply pressure for a

greater length of time per stroke

than other athletes. I call this

stroke the effective stroke.

The effective stroke and the

sprint stroke are inversely related

where acceleration is concerned.

As the effective stroke increases in it’s ability to deliver acceleration

the sprint stroke decreases. The sprint stroke delivers acceleration more

The skater above has traveled forward two feet and seven inches (.75 me-ters) on a left leg stride. Forward stride length increases with speed when us-ing the effective stroke properly.

The top image shows the athlete beginning a left leg stride. When the stride is complete the lateral distance traveled is equal to three feet three inches (1 meter). This is Dr. Braco’s method of stride length measurement. It is an important power component. Equally important, though overlooked, is stride length measured in distance traveled. This pressure, delivered dur-ing phase one of the stroke, is critical to efficient speed.

4 Effective Stroke

quickly at low speeds

than the effective stroke

but the effective stroke is

required to build speed on

top of the sprint stroke.

As acceleration creates

a gliding component the

effective stroke plays an

increasing role in acceleration. While the amount of time spent gliding

increases (i.e. the athlete’s speed increases) the resulting force vector is

directed from the transverse plane toward the frontal plane. Another way

to say this is that generally the athlete’s leg finishes rearward during the

sprint stroke and finishes sideways during the effective stroke.

Force vector is an important concept so let me break rhythm now

to describe what it means. There are times when a skater’s body is directly

over the top of the skate. When that is the case the force vector is straight

down into the ice. There are times when the skater’s body is not over

the top of the skate. This happens when turning. While turning the force

vector still must be directed into the ice. The force vector is now angled

through the athlete’s torso and into

the ice through the skate. So the

force vector will change based on

the position of the athlete’s torso,

where the skate is in the stroke, the

direction the athlete is traveling,

and the athlete’s speed. The force

vector is the amount and direction

of the force generated by an athlete

into the ice.

The effective stroke can build speed during the glide phase if

the athlete produces early and continuous pressure. To get early and

continuous pressure the athlete must recover the stroke so the torso is

over the force vector into the ice. With the body weight over the force

vector the athlete can deliver maximum pressure down into the ice and

control the glide phase. These two details are very important. Many

The graphic above represents the inverse nature of the sprint and effec-tive stroke. The sprint is represented in green, the effective in blue. Up to five units of speed the sprint stroke provides all of the thrust. At seventeen units it is entirely the effective stroke providing the thrust. In this graphic, speeds beyond seventeen units can only be achieved using the effective stroke.

Example of force vector directly into the ice.

The “Railroad” skating style is a sprint stroke. The athlete does not take the time to glide with pressure. This is inefficient because of all the extra strokes required to maintain speed.

Example of an angled force vector.

Effective Stroke 5

hockey skating instructors, Dr. Braco included, have sacrificed this body

position to increase the stroke count. Increasing the stroke count will do

nothing to improve pressure during the glide phase. The glide phase, when

weighted and timed properly, provides speed beyond the sprint stroke. To

control the glide phase the athlete must position the torso over the force

vector into the ice at the start of a new stroke. If the athlete does not get

the torso completely over the force vector the stroke cannot be controlled;

the stroke is cut short because the athlete is falling to the inside of the

push. This is the cause of the familiar “railroad” skating style. The skater

quickly puts the skates on the ice, the upper body does not transition

over the force vector, and the glide phase is short or non-existent. The

“railroad” skating style results in quick recovery, substandard pressure,

and limited glide phase. A majority of hockey players at all levels could

make improvements in their speed, power, and efficiency by improving

their body position and glide phase.

The effective stroke is defined by two phases. The phases are

determined by the position of the athlete’s torso relative to the force vector.

As long as the athlete’s torso is part of the force vector the stride length

is in the first phase. As soon as the body weight shifts out of the force

vector into the ice the stride length has entered the second phase. The

second phase of stride length is nothing more than follow-through. The

second phase of stride length should not be emphasized as an opportunity

to generate speed during the effective stroke. A good example of this is

the toe flick. Emphasis on the toe flick to generate power or speed during

the effective stroke is misguided. The opportunity to deliver maximum

accelerating force has long passed by the time the toe flick is an option.

Follow through is still very important but it will occur naturally and

should not receive focus from instructors as a power delivery component.

The majority of power delivery occurs in the first phase. A skater like

Paul Kariya has essentially completed power delivery with a fraction of

the total stride length completed. This is true because the weight of his

torso transitions to the next stroke before the previous stroke is complete.

For example, I have a fictitious skater with a stride length of thirty inches.

This athlete completes phase one when her torso has moved off of the

current push and is now in a position to load the next push. The stride

length has traveled twenty inches when the torso moves out of the force

Here we see four images of a single stroke in progress. By the fourth image the athlete has moved the torso out of the force vector.The torso is now ready to begin loading the next stroke.

Kariya is so effective because he has a longer glide phase. He continues to push throughout the glide phase put-ting pressure down into the ice.

Kariya has not finished the left leg stroke but his weight has transfered to the new push completely.

6 Effective Stroke

vector. That leaves a remaining ten inches to complete follow through of

the stroke. She has transitioned her weight to maximize the pressure early

in the next push. This concept, getting the pressure early in the stroke, is

critical to fast, effcient skating.

Phasing of the stroke is a mental concept. It is not a physical

concept that the skating athlete should feel. It is a tool for instructors to

convey the movements and the focus of the effort for the athlete. It can

also help the athlete by providing a visual for proprioception. Powerful

and efficient skating requires that transitions from the sprint stroke to the

effective stroke, and vice-versa, are fluid and controlled. The mechanics

of the two strokes are different. The athlete will need to be patient and

diligent while learning the effective stroke. First the athlete must learn the

physical movements. When the physical movements are understood the

athlete can learn timing of the stroke. Timing the stroke includes timing

the exclusive movements of the effective stroke and timing the transitions

from sprint to effective. Both of these timing tasks are detailed. Feel of

the movements and feeling pressure cannot be over-emphasized when the

athlete is learning. The instructor can help the athlete with cues regarding

body position, pressure, and movement. The instructor cannot feel or time

the movements for the athlete. Each athlete will have a unique experience

and should be allowed to develop their own “style” while conforming to

loosely defined rules of thumb.

What does this mean for hockey skaters? Current training

techniques for hockey skaters based on measured stride length (the lateral

distance measured from the beginning of the stroke to the end of the

stroke) and stroke frequency needs to be augmented with a measured

glide phase. The glide phase directs pressure into the ice using the

mechanics of the effective stroke. Generally speaking higher speeds will

require proportionally greater glide times during the stroke to maintain

or increase speed. Plantar pressure distribution measurement systems

have revealed hard numbers for both pressure distributions and timing to

improve skating performance.

After push-off, speed skaters bring their recovery skate back under their

body, and when they put it back on the ice, they land on their outside

edge, roll onto their inside edge, then push-off.

At the beginning of this push the ath-lete is not getting the body over the top of the push.

Midway through the same stride and the athlete is not taking advantage of a glide phase by getting the torso over the force vector into the ice.

Stride is now completed and transition has been made to the new push. Ath-lete is not getting body over the force vector into the ice on the new push.

Effective Stroke 7

I do teach hockey skating athletes to bring the knee of the recovery leg to

the calf of the skating leg. This has benefits. It is a good way to augment

injury prevention strategies in hockey athletes. Hockey athletes tend to

have very strong abducting complexes in the hip which are often not

properly balanced by adducting complexes. Recovering the leg back to

center requires and eventually builds great strength in the adductors and hip

extensors. This technical requirement, full knee recovery, is difficult for

seasoned hockey athletes. This is because

the act of returning the recovery knee all

the way to the pushing leg creates timing

issues for athletes that skate exclusively

with the sprinting stroke. The reason it

creates timing issues is because the skater

must wait just a bit longer to transition

to the next stroke. Waiting, which is an

opportunity to get early pressure and keep

it, is where improved acceleration can occur. Additionally, a full knee

recovery aids in positioning the torso over the force vector into the ice.

Maximum pressure can be achieved when the athlete has the torso over

the force vector into the ice. I do not instruct hockey athletes to place

the recovery foot on the outside edge at the beginning of the new stroke,

though it may have benefits.

Forward hockey skating is consistently pushing off with the inside edge

and landing on the inside edge.

Once again this viewpoint is limited to the sprinting stroke. It does not

apply to the effective stroke. There are numerous examples of skaters

in the NHL where this observation is not accurate. Athletes who have

pronounced glide phases in their strokes and place their bodies directly

over top of the force vector into the ice while gliding include Paul

Coffey, Bret Hedican, Scott Niedermayer, Marian Hossa, Paul Kariya,

Sami Kapanen, Sergei Federov, and Brian Rafalski. I teach hockey

athletes that there are two skating strokes and both are equally important.

The first stroke is the sprint stroke. The sprint stroke delivers the most

acceleration at low to moderate speeds. It is characterized by quick and

Sprint stroke characterized by rearward thrust, rearward extension, and inside edge pushes.

Kariya’s skate position is neither on the inside or outside edge. Part of the glide phase occurs with both edges on the ice. This position early in the stroke al-lows for a longer glide phase.

This is a pronounced outside edge placement which is typical of speeds-katers. Note how close the other skate is. Speedskaters get their blades on the ice very early in the push.

Sampsonov using an outside edge to start a left leg stride.

8 Effective Stroke

powerful movements in the hip extensors and quadriceps. The sprint

stroke delivers impulse pressure rearward to drive the body forward.

Acceleration using the sprint stroke is a function of stride length and

stride frequency. The sprint stroke makes exclusive use of inside edges

during linear acceleration. As an athlete’s speed increases the rearward

focused sprint stroke has diminishing returns. To accelerate further the

resultant force vector must move in an increasingly lateral direction. As

the skating stroke delivers pressure in an increasingly lateral direction a

gliding force component is added to the stride length and stride frequency

force components. To continue accelerating the athlete must properly

time the recovery, glide, and lateral force components. The management

and timing of the recovery, glide, and lateral force components are what

I call the effective stroke. The effective stroke is the second stroke I

teach hockey athletes. The acceleration improvements when the effective

stroke is mastered, particularly during non-linear acceleration, can be

dramatic. The efficiencies gained from effectively using a glide phase are

also dramatic. I teach all hockey athletes with an equal emphasis on both

the sprint stroke and the effective stroke.

Seasoned hockey athletes who endeavor to learn the effective

stroke can be guaranteed a performance decrement before they show an

improvement. The time to learn the new stroke will be based on many

factors including musculature, proprioception, flexibility, timing the

new force component, and athleticism. The performance improvements,

which can be significant, are not limited to increased speed. The effective

stroke is significantly more efficient as well.

The mechanics of the effective stroke deliver the most powerful,

most efficient, high speed cross-over turns possible. High speed turning

is where poor skating mechanics are easy to see in hockey athletes. Since

the effective stroke is not taught most hockey athletes sprint through

cross-over turns. Two critical mechanical errors occur when an athlete

sprints through a turn; the glide phase is significantly reduced and the

body weight is not positioned to deliver maximum force into the ice.

The athlete still experiences good acceleration because the centrifugal

force component increases the resultant force into the ice. A great deal

of potential speed, power, and efficiency is lost, however, when the glide

This skater is turning the upper body into the turn. An upper body turned in unloads the stroke early. The up-per body’s role in the push is finished resulting in a short glide phase.

This skater is leaning into the turn with the torso. Leaning is another common technical problem resulting in a short-ened glide phase.

This skater is loading the push with the torso over the force vector into the ice. This position allows the athlete to deliver maximum force through a pro-longed glide phase.

Effective Stroke 9

phase and proper loading of the stroke with the torso do not occur.

Cross-over turns are a great example of the speed that can be

generated from gliding. Hockey athlete’s can feel the speed boost during

a cross-over turn. This speed boost is caused by increased pressure. The

cross-over turn increases the amount of force the athlete is able to generate

through centrifugal force. The increased centrifugal force results in more

pressure into the ice and therefore more acceleration. A terrific amount of

speed can be developed even when an athlete incorrectly sprints through a

cross-over turn. The perception becomes that sprinting through the turn is

effective because acceleration is achieved. Unfortunately the result is less

than the potential of a properly skated cross-over turn using the effective

stroke. Acceleration in cross-over turns requires a glide phase which is

cut short when using the sprint stroke. The increased force during a cross-

over turn is a great opportunity to glide with pressure. Effectively using

the glide phase requires less strokes than sprinting and so is more efficient

as well. Most hockey athletes could improve their cross-over turning by

incorporating the effective stroke.

Misinformation is common when teaching cross-over turns.

Athletes are instructed to twist their upper bodies while turning. Another

mistake is encouraging athletes to “run” through the turn as if to get off

of a stroke as quickly as possible. These technical deficiencies result in

lost opportunities for maximum pressure early and throughout the stroke.

Arguments for twisting the body into the turn include seeing the ice or

looking to where the athlete is going, or the phrases “where the torso goes

the legs will follow”, and, “to control the puck on the inside of a turn the

torso needs to be inside.” Let me be clear about something. I don’t mean

to suggest that the hockey athlete is pure skater. No. The hockey athlete

The above nine frames show a single crossover stroke. Note the slight shoul-der rotation as the skater transitions through the stroke. This rotation allows pressure consistent with the perpen-dicular force requirement while the torso remains over the top of the force vector into the ice.

10 Effective Stroke

must be able to skate and handle a puck, give or take a pass, take a shot, give or take a check, all while watching

play develop. But, as Dr. Braco has discovered, a great deal of time is spent skating without the puck. This is

when maximum power with efficiency can make a real difference. If the best players in the world only control

the puck two minutes out of twenty minutes total playing time, the opportunities for efficiency are obvious. It is

possible for a trained skater to maintain excellent pressure into the ice during a cross-over turn while handling a

puck, but it must be learned. It will be learned with practice using proper mechanics and training muscle strength

and memory.

Skate setups can have a dramatic effect on an athlete’s technique. There is one popular skate manufacturer

that designs their skates to put athletes “back on their heels”. This forces the athlete to push from the heel when

completing a stroke. There are skaters who have the strength to make this skate setup work. But, even for those

athletes, the resulting position reduces control and therefore affects quickness and agility. Most skaters on those

setups do not have the strength or anatomy to use that setup properly. Those skaters appear flat and slow and have

developed a supporting style and muscle memory. Skate setup issues of all kinds are common. I worked with a

player in the AHL who played for Milwaukee. He had a contract with a specific skate manufacturer. He had been

told by the organization that his skating was keeping him from playing in Nashville. He was actually quite a good

skater but was on the wrong skate setup. He had two options. He could change manufacturers or he could have

the skates modified to fit his anatomy, strength, and skating style. In my experience little attention is paid to skate

geometry. An athlete’s skates are his interface with the ice and improper geometry can create real problems. If

an athlete is having skate issues a skating professional should be consulted and skate blade and boot geometries

should be understood. Consistency is the name of the game and the right skate setup is an important component.

There is much to be improved with regard to teaching powerful and efficient skating technique. Using

the effective stroke has repercussions for off-ice training, a topic not discussed in this brief paper. Young athletes

should be encouraged to get out and skate and when they do to skate low. More experienced athletes will need to

focus on mundane and sometimes painful detail. Skating instructors should spend time learning the movements

of the effective stroke and incorporating those movements into their training regimens. This new information will

provide strong skating fundamentals for future hockey players at all levels.

© Copyright 2007 Kirk H Olson